Understanding the GDPR: General Data Protection Regulation

The GDPR–or General Data Protection Regulation–is a regulation passed by the European Union on April 27, 2016, with an effective start date of May 25, 2018. Officially classified as regulation 2016/679, the GDPR expands upon and replaces the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC of 1995. It serves as the EU’s effort to synchronize and harmonize laws on citizen and resident data privacy throughout its member states. GDPR is based on Privacy by Design/Default, a set of user-centric principles that bequeath a sacred status to user privacy from the get-go rather than as an afterthought. Piggybacking on that is the ability of users to sue organizations under the GDPR who might mishandle personal data. To accomplish this, the GDPR mandates new user-oriented information-handling processes to which EU companies will soon find themselves beholden, not to mention subject to significant penalties in the event of a violation. The complete text of the GDPR legislation clocks in at 88 page